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The unquantifiable joy of waves
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More ocean immersion than French immersion
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I wrote previously about our
first few days at Three Tables. The longer we spent living on this beach the more I wanted to be close to this beach. We visited plenty of other beaches but none matched Three Tables for its rugged, rocky edges, the way the huge waves crashed over those tables, the coarse sand of broken shells and stones, the thick vegetation at the top of the beach, and its serenity, especially early in the morning before anyone showed up.
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| Once I was lava, now I am rock |
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| Time to dream |
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| Stillness amidst constant motion |
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| Sunset |
We slept with the big patio door open, listening to those endless waves. The kids spent endless hours bouncing through the surf, with and without body boards, and when the waters calmed a little, we could snorkel and see many, many tropical fish just off the beach. We were even treated to a swim past by a turtle one time, somehow making their way through the messy surf. After the Polynesian Center on Monday, we spent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday pretty close to home.
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Not the first to be captivated by the big oceans
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I know, it's a lot of photos but they spent a lot of time in this water
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Rare calm at Three Tables. It's spring and it's normally very rough in the winter and quite still in the summer
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Eating does not preclude more ocean gazing
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If this rock could tell its story. Well it probably can, but I just can't read geology
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| Such clear water |
There was a bit of the usual trip planning and admin to do, this time as we figure out our (too short) time in New Zealand. The balcony made for a very nice office. We have also been researching electric cars. We always said we would keep our now 13-yr-old Fit until our year off and then buy an electric car. We have even looked into getting a car in Vancouver and driving home, but it seems everything electric right now has a long, long wait time. So that led to thinking we should put a deposit down on something in Ottawa, which we have now done, so we might get a new car in a year or so. That interrupted the zen for a bit, as did the blogging and trip planning, albeit to a lesser extent. We had also booked a swim with the sharks on Thursday afternoon but sadly it was cancelled because of rough seas and we were too late to be able to re-book before leaving. We did stick to our plan to have dinner in Haleiwa on our last North Shore night, and we enjoyed the upbeat vibe of the small town. We would come back to Three Tables Beach and the Backpackers Vacation Inn (Beach house, unit B or the bigger A would be nice).
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| We don't eat out often but when we do we try to smile! |
We had planned two nights in Waikiki to get our covid test and to be ready for our early flight on Sunday. On our way back we stopped at the Dole plantation, finally found out that pineapples don't grow on trees, and took a side trip to see the weird Ko Olina resort with its series of man-made lagoons, manicured lawns, golf courses and condos. After 10 days in the relatively rugged north, Waikiki was a shock. It is big, brash and overwhelming. Cargo and cruise ship ports give way to a vast forest of high rise hotels, and while there are some nice green spaces, and we are yet to explore the sea front, the concrete is brutal and the traffic is awful. We were spoilt on the north shore!
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It's a pineapple
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Ko Olina
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Where we did not stay in Waikiki. Where we did stay was the ninth floor of the Ambassador Hotel. Cheap, cheerless, concrete
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I think the idea is that you can come to Waikiki on holiday, enjoy being by the beach, and still get your shopping in at all your favourite stores. What you cannot buy is groceries
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| One of the party boats returning to Waikiki at sunset, Diamond Head in the background |
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